Terror at Birdland
by Father Jack
Summary: The Doctor takes Billy, Mandy & Grim to Birdland: a theme park showcasing the world’s most exotic birds. But, typically for the 4 of them, this trip isn’t going to be as safe as the Doctor had hoped … Meanwhile, Grim must face up to someone from his past.
1. The Daytrip of Doom

**This is the follow up to "The Dalek Invasion of Endsville", and the second story in my "Grim Adventures of Doctor Who" series. You don't really have to have read Dalek Invasion to read this one.**

**Huge thanks go out to KitKatBarStory and Immortal-Fool who have both drawn fanart for DIoE. To see them, go to my profile and click "homepage" to go to my DA site. Browse my favourites and look for "Dalek Invasion of Endsville 1" and "DIoE: Decision-Making" both by KitKatBarStory, and "Billy, Mandy and the Dalek" and "Things I Should Have Said" both by Immortal-Fool. Also be sure to check out their galleries, they're both fantastic artists.**

**I have new respect for the writers of the classic Doctor Who stories from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and can now see why the first episodes in four part stories were always spent setting up the premise.**

**Disclaimers at the bottom!**

* * *

_**The Grim Adventures of Doctor Who**_  
_**Terror At Birdland - **By Father Jack  
_**Part 1 - "**The Daytrip of Doom"

* * *

The ducks always seemed to trust Mavis. Four of them waddled around her feet, scooping up the bread she had thrown to them with their beaks. One of the ducks looked at Mavis and quacked pleasantly, almost as if to say 'thank you'.

Ever since she was three years old, Mavis had sat on the same bench by the River Windrush that ran through her little English village, feeding the birds that lived there. Mavis sighed to herself. Where had the last 70 years gone? She stared into the water as the a cool September morning breeze wafted past her. Mavis looked down at the ducks.

"Come on duckies," she cooed to them, "time to eat up. It's nearly time for your Mummy Mavis to go and have her own breakfast."

She shook her head slightly, and asked herself when she had become the mad old lady that sits by the river, talking to the ducks as if they were her own children. There was another gust of wind, slightly stronger this time, and it seemed to come from behind her. The breeze didn't seem to be dissipating, and Mavis could hear a whooshing sound that was getting louder by the second.

She looked behind her, just in time to see a blue Police call box appear from nowhere. Mavis quickly turned back to where she was facing before. She rummaged around in her pocket, producing a small plastic jar containing her prescription medication, and examined the label for information on possible side effects. Suddenly, talking to the ducks seemed like the least of her problems.

--

"We've landed," said the Doctor to his companions.

"Landed? I didn't even know we'd taken off!" Grim exclaimed, still in awe at the Tardis control room.

The Doctor grinned. "The Tardis is good like that."

"I still don't understand how you can fit this whole place in to that tiny box."

"It's just advanced Science, nothing special." The Doctor dismissed the Reaper's question. "What I don't understand is you, Grim."

"Me?"

"Well I was far too concerned about the Daleks before to question it, but you're not actually the Grim Reaper, are you? There's no such thing, is there now?" The Doctor grinned again in a patronising way.

Grim was taken aback. "I don't quite understand what you're getting at, Doctor. I'm standing right here in front of you, aren't I? You can see I exist!"

"Just because something can be seen doesn't mean it exists," said the Doctor.

"How very cryptic," interrupted Mandy, "but I don't really care. Fascinating as it would be to hear you two debate the meaning of life, death and the cosmos for the rest of eternity, I was hoping we could get this 'trip' over and done with quickly. I'm actually starting to miss the Daleks."

"Yeah, Doctor!" Billy piped up. "Make with the strange alien worlds and wired and wonderful creatures!"

"Well, I suppose the sooner this is over the better," agreed the Doctor. He pushed a level on the hexagonal control panel and the Tardis door opened. Billy and Mandy stepped outside as the Doctor turned to Grim and said, "I'm still not convinced about you. Leave your scythe here, we don't want to worry the locals."

--

Tony Worthing stood outside the entrance to the Birdland theme park and stared up in awe at the massive sign that spanned the gateway. At the age of 18, this was going to be his first job since he failed his A-Levels over the summer. Not that he really cared about that. His parents had pushed him into doing all the subjects he hated. English, Maths, History, all completely useless as far as Tony was concerned.

Tony had always been interested in birds, of the feathered kind of course. He had lived in the village of Bourton-on-the-Water his whole life, and had visited the Birdland theme park many times whilst growing up. There, he had developed his love of the exotic species that were on show. When they moved the location of the open aired theme park earlier in the year and started advertising for new staff, Tony had jumped at the chance to work there. True, he was only starting as a junior caretaker, but it was a start!

Nervously, Tony walked through the main entrance and approached the ticket kiosk.

"Um, hello there," he stammered to the kiosk clerk.

"Sorry mate," said the man behind the counter, "you'll have to wait, we don't open for another seven and a half minutes."

"What? Oh, no, I'm starting work here today."

"You? Working here? Oh yes, you must be the new 'boy'. Berton must be really desperate for staff if he's going to employ someone as scrawny as you. Wait here," said the man, as he left the kiosk to find the manager.

Tony watched the man walk away, and then turned his attention to the beautifully crafted wooden sculpture of a bird that sat perched on top of the wooden gate that lead past the ticket kiosk into Birdland.

"Hello there little fella," Tony chuckled to himself as he reached out a hand and began to pat the sculpture on the head. "What's your name then?"

The wooden bird's head fell off.

--

"Wow!" Exclaimed Billy. "We're on some freaky alien landscape!"

The Doctor and the Grim Trio stood outside the Tardis, staring at the river that ran before them.

"Well I wouldn't exactly describe Gloucestershire as an alien landscape, Billy," the Doctor said.

"Gloucestershire?" Mandy repeated, bemusement in her voice.

"Yes, a county in England. We're in a village in the Cotswolds, to be precise."

Mandy began to fume. "So you're telling me that you have a machine that can travel to any point in time and space, even to the beginning of the universe itself, and you've brought us to an insignificant little English village?"

"Yes, it's the only place I could think of where Billy couldn't do any harm."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Doctor," sighed Grim, pointing to the boy who was already running off.

Billy had spotted a duck, preening itself under a tree. He ran towards it, making sounds that loosely resembled quacking. The duck ceased preening and looked up at Billy, terror in its eyes. The bird scrambled to its feet, flapped its wings and took to flight. It flew over Billy, who continued to run forwards, not taking his eyes off the bird. The boy smashed into the tree and fell backwards, his mouth open and letting out a soft moan. Suddenly, a small birds nest fell out of the tree and landed with pinpoint accuracy in Billy's mouth.

"BILLY! Get back here NOW!" Shouted Mandy, pointing furiously to the ground next to her. As Billy made his way back, Mandy turned to the Doctor and said, "what sort of time are we in?"

"Around nine o'clock in the morning, give or take a few minutes," replied the Doctor, facetiously. "Almost lunchtime on some worlds."

"The year, Doctor, the year!" Mandy was now thoroughly cheesed off.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor grinned. "Well, if the Tardis did what it was told then we're in nineteen eighty-nine."

"Nineteen eighty-nine?" Repeated Billy. "I should be 127 years old!"

"No Billy, you shouldn't," Grim said. "In fact you should never be that old. If the universe is to survive then you shouldn't even come close to being that old. Twenty will be too old for you to reach. Heck, two was pushing it."

"Grim, shut it. Doctor, that woman is staring at us," said Mandy, pointing to Mavis who had been watching them from her bench the whole time.

"Ah, yes, they do tend to do that," replied the Doctor, raising a hand and waving to the confused lady. "Everyone wave now."

Billy raised a hand high above his head and waved enthusiastically. Grim bought a bony hand up to his shoulder and wiggled his skeletal fingers at the women. Mandy stared back at Mavis, hands on hips, growling slightly under her breath. Mavis fixed her gaze on Grim, her eyes burning deep into his. Grim stared back. He could have sworn he recognised her.

"Right, follow me," said the Doctor, walking off. The others followed.

--

"Ah-ha! There you are, Tony," said Mr. Berton, the manager of Birdland, walking up to his new recruit. "I wasn't sure if you were going to turn up."

"I'm not late, am I sir?"

"No, not really, I just didn't think you'd bother showing up for such an appalling job. Still, I'm glad you're here!"

Tony looked at his new boss. A rather rotund gentleman in his late fifties, with a big grey bushy moustache that looked as if it hadn't been maintained for quite some time. His hair was jet black, dyed of course. Mr. Berton spoke with an overwhelmingly posh accent, and Tony was convinced he would say 'jolly good show' at any moment.

"Well, I'm glad to be here, sir!"

"Yes, well you say that now but you haven't started working yet, have you? Anyway, boy, follow me," said Berton, opening the wooden gate. He paused for a moment when he spotted the headless wooden bird, raised an eyebrow, then continued through the gate. He outstretched his arms before him and bellowed, "welcome to the new Birdland!"

"Wow," was all Tony could muster, as he stood staring in awe at the sight in front of him. Massive cages and enclosures as far as he could see, each containing rare and exotic specimens of birds from all around the world. Berton walked on and Tony followed along side him.

"Wow indeed, young man. We have one of Britain's largest collection of birds here. Over a hundred different species, including three different types of penguin," Berton said, pointing to the penguin enclosure as they passed it. Tony turned and smiled at the penguins. Most of them ignored him, except for one that just turned and flapped its wings at him.

"Oh yes, I know all about Birdland, sir. I visited the old site loads of times, right from when I was little. I just still can't believe I'm going to be here all day every day!"

"Hmm, yes, well it won't take long for you to get used to it, and possibly dread it."

"I'm sorry?"

"Not as sorry as you will be! Anyway, never mind that," spluttered Berton, quickly diverting the direction of the conversation. "Think you've seen all the birds here, do you Tony?"

"Sir?"

"Stop calling me that, I'm not a knight of the realm for heaven's sake."

"Sorry. But yes, I've seen them all many times," boasted Tony, "and I've even done extra research and I know all there is to know about all of them."

"Swot. But no, Tony, you haven't seen them all."

The pair stopped next one of Birdland's many large cages. Tony looked in and gasped in awe. He saw a bird, perching on a branch, but it was quite unlike anything he had seen before. The bird was quite large, as big as an albatross. It was red in colour, with yellow stripes on its wings. Its eyes were blue, big and bright, glistening in the early morning sun. The bird turned its head, slowly, and looked straight at Tony.

"What is that?" He asked his boss.

"That, Tony, is a bird. I would have hoped you knew that already," Berton chuckled, obviously very pleased with his appalling joke. "But more specifically, we have no idea what species it is. It was found in Scotland a month ago, in Rannoch Moor. Practically dead it was, but made a miraculous recovery in a very short space of time. No one knew what to do with it so they donated it to us. One of a kind, Tony! This is its first day on show here, and we're expecting a rush of people to see the 'Mysterious Bird of Bridland'. Do you like that name? I thought of it myself!"

"Well it's very good, sir. I mean, Mr. Berton."

"Yes it is. Right now, young man, time for you to get to work. I have a very important job for you Tony." Berton leaned in towards Tony, as if to whisper some important information.

"Yes?"

"Put the kettle on, there's a good chap," Berton said very loud in Tony's ear, which made the boy jump. "I'm sure you'll be able to find the kitchen. Tea, please."

"Oh, right, yes. Erm, how do you like your tea?"

"Hot, if you can manage that."

Tony looked at Berton for a couple of seconds, realised that he wasn't going to say anything else, and began to make his way to the kitchen. Berton let the boy walk off, and paused for a moment to admire his new attraction.

"Well, you strange little thing, you're going to make me a lot of money," he said to the magnificent bird. "I've already put an order in for the first shipment of stuffed toys in your likeness, as well as the 'I've seen the Mysterious bird of Birdland' t-shirts. You'll be famous! Jolly good show," Berton mumbled to himself and began to walk off.

The bird watched him go. Berton was too far away to hear the creature chuckling to itself.

--

"Birdland?" Said Mandy, staring at the sign.

"Very good, you can read," replied the Doctor.

"Don't push me, Doctor, or I'll garrotte you with that infernal scarf of yours."

"I hate carrots," said Billy.

"This is our amazing trip across time?" Said Grim, dumfounded. "To a theme park?"

"Yes, I thought it might be rather fun, and I've been meaning to come here for a few centuries now."

"Centuries?!" Exclaimed Grim. "How old are you?"

"About seven hundred years give or take, hopefully take but probably give." The Doctor eyeballed Grim. "I suppose if I were to believe that you were really were the Grim Reaper that makes me the second oldest here, yes?"

"Doctor, I've lost the will to live," interrupted Mandy. "Can we just get this over and done with, then you can take us back to Endsville and we can forget we ever met you?"

"Fine."

The group walked through the main entrance and approached the ticket kiosk.

"Family of four?" Asked the kiosk clerk.

"What?" Said the Doctor, confused.

"You'll be wanting a family ticket, yes? You, your children," the clerk said, pointing to Billy and Mandy, "and your wife there." The clerk indicated he meant Grim.

"My what?" The Doctor exclaimed, before turning to look at the Reaper. "Oh right, yes of course! We're on a family outing. Isn't that right, my little jelly baby?" The Doctor said to Grim, grinning. Grim looked startled.

"I feel strangely violated," said Mandy, a look of pure disgust on her face.

"I want a jelly baby," said Billy.

The clerk looked at the two kids and said, "why do your children have American accents? Actually, I don't want to know, it's not my job to know. I'm just paid to print tickets. Besides, you're holding up the queue."

The Doctor and company looked behind them, the only other person queuing was the lady they had seen when they first exited the Tardis. Mavis raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, but kept her distance from the strange quartet.

"That'll be five pound fifty, please," the clerk continued as they all turned back round to face him.

"Do you take Euros?" Said the Doctor.

"What?"

"Oh right, yes of course, and you never will." The Doctor rummaged around in his pockets and produced a yo-yo, a pair of handcuffs, a crayon, a jug, a ball of string, and a carrot, all of which he handed to Billy to hold. Eventually, the Doctor produced a five pound note and a one pound coin and handed them to the clerk. "Don't worry about the change."

The clerk quickly printed off their ticket, handed it to the Doctor and ushered the group through the gate. As they went through, Billy spotted the headless bird sculpture.

"Awww, you poor thing!" Billy cooed to the wooden bird, patting it. The whole thing came loose and fell to the ground.

--

There really wasn't a lot to do at Birdland, except look at birds. The Doctor and the Grim Trio went from cage to cage, looking at each specimen with varying degrees of interest.

The Doctor - fascinated that so many different types of what was essentially the same creature could evolve on one tiny planet.

Grim - bored stiff because he'd seen much more exotic birds in millennia past that were now extinct.

Mandy - bored stiff because she was Mandy.

Billy - fascinated by his own hand, the fingers that seemed to wriggle almost independent of each other.

Mandy grabbed the Doctor's scarf, tightened it slightly around his neck, and pulled him down so that his face was level with hers. "Doctor, have you been sent to punish me for some reason?" She asked the Time Lord. "It's just that I'm beginning to think I'm dead and that this is my own personal hell."

"Calm down, Mandy, we're over half way through. Another hour or so and we'll never have to see each other again."

"An hour? Another name for eternity, perhaps?" Mandy let go of the scarf.

The Doctor righted himself. "Not quite. Besides, we're about to enter the Tropical House."

"Sounds as about as exciting as gouging out my own eyes with out a corkscrew."

"Even more fun than that," the Doctor said as he lead the others into what looked like a massive greenhouse.

Inside it was almost like a mini tropical forest. Tall plants grew either side of a relatively narrow pathway that lead around the complex. Birds flew freely above them from branch to branch. Several of the birds spotted Billy, paused for a brief moment, then proceeded to dive towards him and peck at his face.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Screamed the boy, as two dozen birds engulfed him and sent him writhing to the floor.

"That's it, I'm out of here," said Mandy, seemingly ignoring the commotion and heading out of the Tropical House back the way they came. "Come on, Billy, stop messing around."

"I taste blood!" Screamed the red-headed child, as he tried in vain to fend off the birds.

Mandy shooed the birds away with ease and dragged the battered and bruised boy out of the door, past Mavis who was just entering the Tropical House. Mavis paused for a moment, then followed the two children out.

--

"But if we leave the Doctor, we'll never get back to Endsville!" Protested Billy, who was now on his feet and following Mandy along the paths of Birdland.

"Relax, doofus, we'll just find a canteen or something and sit it out. He'll come find us when it's time to leave."

"Awww, but I wanted to see the phoenix up close!"

"Somehow Billy, I doubt they've got one."

"Oh yeah? So what's that, then?" Billy pointed towards the cage that housed the mysterious bird. Mandy looked at the creature.

"I … I don't know," stammered the girl, as the pair walked towards it. She read the temporary placard out loud. "'The Mysterious Bird of Birdland'. Curious."

"Yeah! Cur-ee-ous-ous-os-osage!"

"That too. I wonder what the heck this thing is?" Mandy stared at the bird, who stared right back at her. The creature began to snarl, and without warning took to flight. It flew straight up and smashed through the wire frame that formed the top of the cage, as if it were candy floss. Mandy watched as the creature circled the Tropical House a couple of times, before smashing right through the glass roof of the enclosure.

Mavis, who had been keeping a distance from the children but was still close enough to hear their conversation, had also seen the bird fly through the roof. She gasped, and began to make her way back towards the Tropical House.

"Come on, Billy," shouted Mandy, as the children ran towards the complex.

They ran past Mavis, who called out to them. "Wait, children, stop!"

They did not hear her.

--

"Did you hear that, boy?" Exclaimed Berton, looking up from his newspaper and placing his lukewarm tea on the table.

"Yes, sounded like glass breaking!" Replied Tony.

"Hmm, sounds like it came from the Tropical House! Come on, Tony, let's go have a look. You might have something to clear up, so bring your rubber gloves and dustpan!"

--

Billy and Mandy burst back into the Tropical House, closely followed by Mavis.

"Doctor, what is that thing?" Mandy called out.

The bird was hovering two or three feet below the hole it had made in the ceiling. Its wings were outstretched, however it wasn't flapping them. It was literally just floating there, staring at the congregating group.

"What is going on here?" Shouted Mavis as she came to a halt next to the group. At that moment, Tony and Mr. Berton rushed through the entrance.

"What the Dickens?" Shouted Berton. "How did my new attraction get up there?"

The Doctor turned round to Mavis and the blokes. "Why hello there, I'm the Doctor, this is the Reaper, that's the Idiot, and that little girl there is the Psychopath."

Mandy glared at the Doctor. "We can trade insults later, Doctor! In the meantime would you mind telling us what the hell that thing is?!"

"Not a clue, Mandy, looks like a bird to me."

"That's not very helpful, Doc!"

"Allow me to clear things up a bit," the mysterious bird said. It spoke with an upper class English accent, slowly and clearly.

"Who or what are you?" Asked the Doctor.

"My name is Aak, and I'm a Thraptusian!"

"What do you want?"

"Why, Doctor! That is your name, isn't it? I want you all to DIE!"

With that, the bird's eyes began to glow red. All the birds in the enclosure suddenly fell silent and flew to Aak's side. They faced the group of people, and hovered as if hypnotised.

"My feathered brethren," Aak began, calmly. "I command you to attack the humans. Destroy them. Destroy them all."

The birds began to advance on the group.

Billy grabbed on to Mandy and held tight. She did not push him away.

* * *

**Doctor Who/the Doctor and the Tardis belong to the BBC.  
****Grim, Billy and Mandy belong to Maxwell Atoms and Cartoon Network.  
****All other characters are mine.  
****The real Birdland is property of the owners of Birdland. Please look it up on the net, it's good, I've been there!**


	2. A Bitter Reunion

**Not much to say about this chapter, really. As you've probably guessed I'm a supporter of BillyxMandy so that will be an underlying theme throughout this series. **

**All reviews welcome. Please.**

**Disclaimers at the end.**

* * *

_**The Grim Adventures of Doctor Who  
**__**Terror At Birdland - **By Father Jack  
_**Part 2 - **"A Bitter Reunion"

* * *

The hypnotised birds drew closer to the aghast group of people, while Aak looked on and smirked. 

Billy, who was still clutching Mandy from behind, began to scream loudly.

"Ow, my ear!" Complained Mandy, turning round to face Billy but not yet trying to free herself from his grip.

"Sorry," said the boy. "But we are just about to be killed by a Thra … Thrap …" Billy tried to pronounce the alien's name but instead ended up blowing a huge raspberry in Mandy's face.

"Ewwwww," said Mandy, finally pushing the boy away and wiping the spit from her face.

"Halt," called out Aak, and the advancing birds stopped dead and hovered in place. Aak flew forward a bit. "It's pronounced 'Thrap-too-sian', boy."

"Thhhhrrrrrrppppp," Billy tried again.

"No, no, no. Repeat after me. Thrap."

"Thrap," repeated Billy.

"Too."

"Too!"

"Sian," Aak finished.

"Sian."

"Good, now put that all together."

"Thhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppppppp!"

While Aak's attention was focused on Billy, Mandy had reached down a picked up a small rock. As Billy blew his raspberry, Mandy lobbed the rock at the Thraptusian. It hit him, just above the beak between his eyes. The force sent Aak flying backwards.

"Owww! Oh that hurts," said Aak.

As Aak was trying to recover, his mental hold on the other birds broke, and they began to fly around the room at random.

"Come on!" Shouted the Doctor, heading for the exit. He opened the door and darted outside, followed by Mandy, Grim and Mavis. Billy tripped on his way to the door, and Tony bent down to help him.

"What are you doing? We've got to get out of here", screamed a panicking Mr. Berton. Suddenly, the door slammed shut. Berton stepped over the boy and tried to force the door open. Tony got up to help, but it was no good. Something was forcing the door shut.

"Going somewhere?"

Billy clambered to his feet as Tony and Mr Berton turned round to find a fully recovered Aak hovering just above the floor, a few feet away from them.

"Did you close the door?" Asked Tony, his voice quivering with fear.

"I certainly did," Aak replied, "using the power of my mind." He looked at Billy. "That was a clever trick, boy, distracting me like that."

"Trick?" said Billy, confused. "Clever? Was?"

"We're a proud race, and you lesser beings should know the correct way to refer to your new master. But I won't let it happen again. When my powers are fully restored I will be able to control all of your minds, not just those of the birds."

"I thought you were going to kill us?" Said Mr. Berton, still not quite able to believe he was having a conversation with one of his birds.

"I've changed my mind. Thraptusian's prerogative. The three of you are much more useful to me alive, for now…"

--

The Doctor tried frantically to open the door with the sonic screwdriver, but it wouldn't budge.

"No good, must either be deadlock sealed or kept shut with some sort of mental force," surmised the Doctor.

"But there are people in there, we have to get them out," said Mavis. The Doctor, Grim and Mandy turned to look at her. "I'm Mavis, by the way."

"Mavis!" Exclaimed Grim, finally recognising the woman.

"Yes. Hello Grim," said the old lady. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Longer than you think."

"You know her, bonehead?" Said Mandy.

"I was hoping you'd never find out, Mandy, but you and Billy aren't the first people to win me in a bet."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Yes, my friend Roger and I won him after he came to take the soul of my goldfish," Mavis explained. "Game of hopscotch, it was."

"You cheated so bad," protested Grim.

"It was fair and square, Grim." Mavis looked the Reaper in his cold, black eyes. "Do you remember Roger, Grim?"

"As touching as the little reunion of yours is," Mandy interrupted, "we do have a slight problem here. I don't know if any of you remember, but we were all just nearly executed by a talking bird!"

"I hadn't forgotten," snarled the Doctor, walking off.

"Where are you going?"

"To get Birdland closed for the day, so no-one else wonders in."

"I'm coming with you, to make sure you don't do a vanishing act on us," Mandy said, running after him. She turned back round to Mavis and Grim and said, "you two stay here and don't let anyone else try to get into that hut." With that, she turned back round and caught up with the Doctor.

"I wouldn't leave you here, you know," protested the Time Lord.

"Oh no? What's to stop you diving into the Tardis right now and getting as far away from here as possible?"

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks and faced the girl.

"I just wouldn't!" He snapped. "Besides, we're part of events now. Whatever Aak is planning, he must be stopped." He started walking again.

"But whatever he does here in 1989 obviously doesn't have much of an effect on the future. I'm from the early 21st century, don't forget Doctor. I know everything is normal there …. relatively speaking. Besides, even if he just caused a bit of a panic and didn't do much else, it would have been documented and I'd have heard about it!"

"Put it this way, Mandy," said the Doctor, "have you ever heard of the Cyberman invasion in the late 1960s? Hundreds of people in London died? Or the Autons? Shop dummies coming to life and killing people in the streets? Yetis in the London Underground?"

"Well, no," the girl replied, a little puzzled.

"Exactly! You humans have a way of covering up things like this, and you'll continue to do so until it's impossible. But now we are here we must stop Aak. Because, if we don't, it's entirely possible you won't have a future to go back to."

--

Grim and Mavis stood outside the Tropical House in silence. Mavis was the first to break the ice.

"You never answered me, Grim. Do you remember Roger?"

"Of course I do, I don't need reminding," he snapped.

After a short pause, Mavis spoke again, facing away from Grim. "I blamed you, you know. As far as I was concerned it was your fault."

"I was just doing me job."

"That's something I've been trying to tell myself all these years, Grim. But everything we went through, all the dangers the three of us we faced together, we always survived. And I always told myself that you were responsible for us not getting killed." Mavis shot her glare at Grim. "So why did you take him when you did?"

"When your time has come, your time has come," Grim replied, feeling most uneasy. "It was amazing he lasted as long as he did. The boy was an idiot!"

"How dare you!" Mavis shouted. "Roger may have been an idiot, Grim, but he was my idiot. And you took him away from me when you could have saved him. For that, I may never be able to forgive you."

Grim looked at the woman, who's eyes were staring to well up with tears. He sighed and said, "there was nothing I could do to save him. Like I said, when your time has come then that's it. Even I can't change that."

"This is a fascinating conversation," came a voice from above them. Grim and Mavis looked up to see Aak perched on the roof of the Tropical House, looking down on them.

"But how did you get out?" Cried Grim.

"Erm, the hole I made in the roof. I don't know if you noticed, but I can fly, you know?"

"And you say Roger was an idiot," said Mavis to Grim. She looked back up towards Aak and said, "what have you done with the others?"

"They're quite safe for now," he replied.

--

"Stand aside, guys!" Billy demanded, putting on his best bravado voice.

"What on Earth are you doing, boy?" Said Mr. Berton, as he and Tony got out of the child's way.

Billy didn't reply. Instead, he ran head first as fast as he could towards the door. Inevitably, he collided with it, fell backwards and lay on the floor, groaning softly.

--

"Where are the other two?" Aak questioned Grim and Mavis.

"They're around, somewhere," said Mavis, somewhat vaguely.

"Bring me the one who calls himself the Doctor, or your friends in here will suffer."

"What exactly is it that you want?" Grim asked.

"You'll know when the time comes! Hahahaha," Aak laughed as he flew back down the hole into the Tropical House. Hovering a few feet above the floor, he stared at the three captives for a few seconds.

"Now, the question is, what to do with the three of you?" He said.

"You could, you know, let us go?" Said Tony, trying to put on a brave tone, but his voice cracked ever so slightly.

"Unlikely," replied the bird, deadpan.

"Isn't this usually the part where you tell us all your plans for your domination of the world?" Offered Mr. Berton.

"So you can try and work out a way of stopping me? I don't think!" Aak replied, his voice getting gradually louder and louder.

"Oh! Oh! I know!" Billy shouted, a huge grin on his face. "Why don't you tell us a story?"

"What?"

"Yeah, and it can have dragons in it, and werewolves, and bikes, and a turnip! And they can all dance around with each other and sing songs about trombones, and they all eat wholemeal pasta!"

"What the heck are you talking abo….?" Aak began before Billy interrupted him, continuing his verbal diarrhoea.

"And something very sad happens, and one of them dies." Billy looked glum for a moment, before perking up again and adding, "but he doesn't really! Deeheeheehee!"

Tony, Mr. Berton and Aak stared at Billy, wide eyed and open mouthed.

"Are you quite done?" Said Aak, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"I think so." Billy nodded.

"Good."

--

Meanwhile, Mandy and the Doctor were making their way back from getting the theme park closed. Frankly, it hadn't taken much to persuade the ticket kiosk clerk to round up the rest of the staff, lock the gates and go home. In fact, the Doctor had only got as far as saying Birdland needed to be shut before the man had replied "ok" and set about his task.

"Job satisfaction obviously isn't very high here," Mandy noted.

"Indeed," replied the Doctor, "any excuse for a day off, eh?"

Mandy didn't reply and the pair continued to walk for silence for a few moments. Suddenly, out of nowhere a continuous high tone began to sound.

"What's that?" The Doctor asked the girl.

Mandy reached into a pocket in her dress and pulled out her phone. "Just this piece of junk. The battery's dying," she said as she looked at the screen. "No signal. Go figure."

"Let me see," said the Doctor, snatching the phone from Mandy's grasp. "Hmm," he mused, taking the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. He removed the back of the phone and the battery, shone the screwdriver inside for a few seconds and replaced the battery and cover.

"What are you doing?"

The Doctor chucked the phone back to Mandy and said, "I just upgraded your phone. The battery won't die for years, and you can call home if you want."

"But home is nearly twenty years away."

"Yes," the Doctor grinned. "Yes it is."

By now, Mandy and the Doctor had arrived back at the entrance to the Tropical House. They walked up to Mavis and Grim. Mandy eyed the Reaper.

"So, how's the reunion going?" Mandy said sarcastically.

"Bittersweet," Grim replied. "Without the sweetness."

"Oh it's not all bad, we've been catching up, haven't we Grim?" Mavis said, almost as if through gritted teeth. "Picking up where we left off!"

"Any word from our feathered friend?" The Doctor asked, interrupting.

"Yes, Doctor," Mavis said, cautiously looking at the Time Lord, "and he wants you."

"Oh he does, does he? Well, let's not waste any time. AAK!" He shouted at the top of his voice. The Thraptusian appeared on the roof once more and looked down at the Doctor and the others.

"There you are! About time too, the boy is really starting the annoy and confuse me," Aak said.

"What have you done with Billy?" Mandy shouted, her right arm outstretched and pointing to Aak.

"Nothing …. yet … Why?" Aak looked Mandy square in the eyes. She didn't reply. "Intriguing," Aak said, thoughtfully.

"So here I am Aak," the Doctor said, "what do you want with me?"

"Well, Doctor, you and me are eventually going to have a little chat in here. I know what you are, Time Lord. But first, you must do something for me."

"Only if you can guarantee the safety of everyone in there."

"Oh they'll be quite safe if you co-operate," Aak snorted, "and if you please me I might even think about letting them go."

"What do you want?"

"Salt."

"Salt?"

"Yes, Doctor, salt. I need it help regain my powers. I'm still very weak from my arrival on your planet, and salt can help me be strong again. You go and bring me as much as you can find, and we'll go from there." Aak looked nonchalantly at one of his wings.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then all your friends in here shall die."

"Fair enough."

"You have ten minutes, Doctor." With that, Aak vanished back down the hole in the roof.

"Salt? Why the heck does he need salt?" Cried Grim, starting to panic again.

"Why does anyone need anything, Grim?" Snapped the Doctor. "He just does, and we need to find some, and quick. Think, people!"

"The café on the other side of Birdland!" Said Mavis. "They must have hundreds of those sachets of salt for fish 'n' chips or whatever."

"Brilliant! Let's go," the Doctor began to walk off. He paused for a moment and added, "actually Mavis, I don't know the way. Will you lead?"

"Certainly," Mavis smiled.

"You two better stay here," the Doctor called to Mandy and Grim, as he and Mavis walked off. "Would you like a jelly baby?" He said to the woman.

"No thanks," replied Mavis.

"Oh that's good, I haven't got any."

"Be careful Mavis!" Grim called out. He had always felt a pang of guilt about what he had done to her all those years ago, and didn't want to see her come to any harm.

"Listen to you! 'Be careful'." Mandy imitated Grim. "Since when do you show concern for mortals?"

Grim looked down at Mandy and thought for a moment. "You're not …. jealous, are you Mandy?" Grim said, failing to suppress a smirk.

Mandy was taken aback by that remark. She had always thought of her relationship with Grim as professional, with maybe just a hint of tolerance and maybe even grudging respect creeping in, but nothing more than that. True, she'd always found the power and status attractive, but ultimately she didn't need Grim to achieve that. She'd keep him around for amusement's sake, naturally, but that would be it.

However, the Reaper had touched a nerve. Mandy had always seen herself as a cut above the rest of the mere mortals, and prided herself on being the only one who could control the Grim Reaper. Mavis, it seemed, beat Mandy to it years before she was born.

"Firstly, never, ever imply that, ever again. If you do, you will know a pain that will push the very definition of hurting further than it ever has been before."

Grim gulped.

"Secondly," Mandy continued, "I just want to know how she controlled you."

"She never really controlled me," Grim recalled, wistfully. "She was a lot nicer than you are. We actually enjoyed each other's company."

"Sounds like you're the one who has a crush, Grim. On Mavis!"

"Don't be preposterous, child. She's seventy three years old!" Grim spluttered.

"What? You're, like, over a million years old!"

"Exactly. She's far too young for me. Anyway, what about you and your 'oooh, Mr. Aak, please don't hurt my Billy' routine?," Grim said, mocking the girl.

"Grim!" Mandy hissed, angrily.

"You two are so in love," Grim grinned, his confidence getting the better of him.

Mandy growled, and kicked off Grim's left leg. As he struggled to keep his balance on one foot, she grabbed the detached limb and belted Grim's head off with it. The head rolled a few feet before coming to a rest.

"Ow," he said.

Mandy walked up to the head, towering high above it. "That's another thing you're not allowed to imply, Grim. Time for hurting," she said, reaching down towards the skull.

Grim screamed.

--

"Lalalalalalalalalala," Billy sang as he paraded around the Tropical House in random directions. Mr. Berton stared at the boy, a look of sheer disbelief on his face. Tony crouched in the corner, covering his ears in a vain attempt to drown out the sound. Aak sat perched on a low wall, grinding his teeth in frustration, and rocking back and forth slightly.

"Eight minutes. Only eight minutes left," he told himself.

Mr. Berton approached the bird.

"Um, can I have a word with you, Mr. Aak?" He said.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I have a sort of proposition for you."

Aak looked him up and down for a second. "Sorry, not my type."

"What? No, a business proposition!" Mr Berton corrected Aak.

"Go on," sighed Aak.

"Well, you're a talking bird, yes?"

"You're a quick one, aren't you?"

"We could make a fortune, you and I! Not only would you be 'The Mysterious Bird of Birdland', you could be the 'Talking Bird of Birdland'. Oooooh, I can see it now!" Mr Berton began to visualise the sight of Aak in his cage at the centre of Birdland, thousands upon thousands of people flocking to see him and handing over vast wads of cash.

"Money? That's all you can think of?" Aak shouted, beginning to get angry. The outburst caused Billy to stop singing. He stood still and looked at the bird.

"Well, it makes the world go round and all that," said Mr. Berton.

"You're the worst type of human. Out for nothing but yourself. I've been communicating with the other birds here."

"You can do that?" Asked Tony.

"I can. What was the point in asking that?"

"I haven't said much recently."

"Hmm. Anyway, they hate you, Mr. Berton."

"Me? What did I do?" Replied the rotund gentleman.

"They tell me Birdland used to be a charitable organisation, helping preserve species and giving permanent homes to sick and injured birds. But you've changed all that since you took over! Now it's all about the money, and people have stopped coming here."

"Just a bit of teething trouble with the new location, that's all," Mr. Berton protested.

"Rubbish. You're selfish, Mr. Berton, and that will be your undoing. Now go back and sit with the others, you're annoying me more than the boy."

Mr. Berton skulked off back to the corner.

--

"You don't seem very phased by all this, Mavis," the Doctor said to the old lady as they made their way through Birdland.

"Oh this is nothing compared to the things I went through with Grim," she replied.

"I see. Tell me one thing, Mavis, do you honestly believe he's the actual Grim Reaper?"

"Of course. What else would he be?" Mavis replied, slightly confused.

"Well, I was thinking, perhaps some sort of alien entity that's taken the shape of a mythical creature in order to infiltrate the planet? Something like that?" The Doctor wondered, clutching at straws.

"And he's doing that by losing bets with children and becoming their best friend / slave for life?"

"I see your point," the Doctor admitted.

"No Doctor, the day he took Roger was the day that confirmed everything for me."

"Fascinating."

"That's one way of looking it, I suppose."

"Sorry. What happened to Roger?" The Doctor asked, sympathetically.

Mavis sighed. "We were both 23. The year was nineteen …."

"SQUAAAAAAAAAAWK!" A piercing, shrill cry interrupted them. The Doctor and Mavis stopped dead in their tracks. They had reached the café but between them and the entrance was a rather large penguin. It stood in place, its' wings stretched out as far as they could go either side of it. It was staring right at them, anger and hatred on its' face.

"Don't move," whispered the Doctor.

"What's it doing?" Mavis whispered back.

"It must have been under Aak's mind control earlier, he probably can't yet control how far his field of influence stretches. When the contact was broken it must have driven this poor thing insane."

"SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!!" The penguin cried again, advancing on Mavis and the Doctor. The pair dived out of the way and hid behind a nearby bench.

"Bloody hell, that thing's vicious," Mavis observed.

"Yes. We've got to get past it quickly and get that salt, or else Billy and the others are dead."

The Doctor and Mavis looked at each other for a moment.

"SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!" The penguin screamed once more, slowly making its' way towards the Doctor and Mavis' hiding place.

"Any ideas?" Said Mavis, looking the Doctor in the eyes.

**

* * *

****Doctor Who/the Doctor and the Tardis belong to the BBC.  
****Grim, Billy and Mandy belong to Maxwell Atoms and Cartoon Network.  
****All other characters are mine.  
****The real Birdland is property of the owners of Birdland. Please look up the website - adopt a bird today!**


	3. Mandy Vs Bird

**More of an action chapter, this one. Bear with me - one more to go after this!**

_**

* * *

**__**The Grim Adventures of Doctor Who  
**__**Terror At Birdland - **By Father Jack  
_**Part 3 - **"Mandy Vs. Bird"

* * *

"Doctor!" Mavis said, trying to get the Time Lord's attention. "Any ideas?" She asked again. The insane penguin was slowly advancing on their hiding place behind the picnic bench. It squawked loudly again.

The Doctor looked back at her. There was a … possibility. It was quite a lame idea, especially by the Doctor's standards, but it was the only thing he could come up with in the time.

"Just one," he said, removing his overly long scarf from around his neck.

"You're not going to strangle the poor thing are you?" Asked Mavis, shocked.

"Of course not," the Doctor snapped. "Just going to try and calm it down."

"Calm it down? With a scarf?"

"Yes. Take this end," said the Doctor, handing one side of the scarf to Mavis.

"I'm not exactly filled with confidence, Doctor."

The Doctor, holding on to the other end of the scarf, moved backwards towards the other end of the bench. "When I say move, stand up and run at the penguin. Try and get the scarf wrapped around its' eyes."

Mavis twigged what the Doctor had in mind. "Of course! Darkness sooths some birds. But will it work on a penguin?"

"We're about to find out. Ok, ready? One …. Two …. Three …. MOVE!"

Mavis and the Doctor stood up at the same time and charged at the mad penguin, the scarf outstretched between them. They reached the squawking bird and ran around it in opposite directions until the scarf was fully wrapped around the creature's head, covering its' eyes.

For a moment, the penguin stood still, in a daze and slightly confused.

"There, you see?" Said the Doctor, sounding rather pleased with himself and grinning at Mavis. "What did I tell you?"

Suddenly, the penguin shook itself out of its' daze and let out another cry, far more blood curdling than before. It tried to shake the scarf off, and started waddling off frantically, squawking all the way. Eventually, it freed itself from the scarf and ran away faster than any penguin the Doctor had ever seen before. Mavis and the Doctor started after it for a moment, bemused, before turning to look at each other.

"Well, that didn't quite pan out as I'd hoped," said the Doctor.

"At least we didn't get our eyes gouged out," said Mavis.

"That's a plus in any situation," replied the Doctor, retrieving his scarf.

"Come on Doctor, we'd better get that salt, we don't have long left."

--

"What?"

Billy grinned from ear to ear as he stood staring at Aak.

"What do you want?" Said Aak.

Billy continued to grin.

"What is it?"

Billy continued to grin.

"WHAT???"

Billy continued to grin.

"Ok that's it," Aak snapped. He flew down so he was face to face will Billy, and began shaking the boy with his wings.

"Deehehehehehehee! Billy laughed.

"How are you such an idiot?" Aak asked the boy, releasing him.

"I love you," replied Billy, still grinning that idiotic grin of his.

"What?"

"You're soft! Deehehehehehehee! Hello, soft!" Billy said, as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the alien bird. He began to squeeze Aak, who in turn began to gasp for air.

"Let … go ….. of …. me!" Aak spluttered. He craned his neck back as far as he could, then brought his head forward quickly, poking Billy in the eye with his beak.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Screamed the boy. He turned and ran to where Mr. Berton and Tony were standing, and stood behind Tony, peeking out from behind his legs. Aak continued to gasp for a few seconds, as he caught his breath.

"Was that really necessary?" Tony shouted to the bird. Aak stared daggers at him for a few seconds before flying to face him. Billy yelped and continued to cower behind Tony, whimpering.

"The idiot was choking me!" Aak said.

"He's just a child, leave him alone," Tony said, summoning up courage from somewhere.

"You're in no position to talk to me like that," snapped Aak, glaring at Tony once more. "If the Doctor isn't back in three minutes, one of you will die." With that, Aak turned round and flew up through the hole in the roof.

"Quite a first day this is turning out to be," said Tony. He noticed Billy still hiding behind him. He knelt down to face to boy. "It's ok, he's gone for now, Billy," said Tony, softly.

Billy was shaking with fear, and the eye Aak had poked was shut. "My eye hurts," he sniffled.

"Let's have a look," Tony said.

Billy slowly opened his wounded eye. He winced as he felt a sharp stinging pain, and his eye started to water. "Ow," he whimpered.

"Ahh you'll be ok," said Tony. "I don't think he pecked you hard enough to cause any permanent damage."

Billy sniffed again. "Thank you."

"We need to find a way out of here," Tony continued. He turned to his boss. "Are there any other doors?"

"Just the feeding entrance at the back," replied Mr. Berton, "but it's locked and I left the key in the office."

"Bugger."

"Indeed."

--

Aak sat perched on top of the Tropical House, keeping a look out for the Doctor. After a minute, he spotted him with Mavis, walking down the path. Aak flew to meet the Doctor as he approached the building .

"Did you get it?" He asked the Time Lord.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes, I did." He reached into his pockets and produced two handfuls of salt sachets. "I have plenty more in there too. Now let the others go."

"I will let **one** of them go, in exchange for you, Time Lord."

"How do you know I'm a Time Lord?"

"You left your mind open, Doctor, and I read it." Aak flew towards the closed door. "Everyone keep away," he said to the others, "or I will kill the lot of you." Everyone dived out of the way, and as he approached the door it opened ahead of him. Aak flew inside, as the Doctor followed him.

Mandy stepped forward as if to enter the building herself, but the Doctor reached out an arm, blocking her entrance.

"Stay. Here." The Doctor whispered to the girl through gritted teeth.

Mandy glared at him. How dare he have the nerve to touch her? Still, he may have a point. If she barged in, there was no telling what Aak may do. She shoved his arm away and stepped back. The Doctor continued walking and the door shut behind him. Grim, Mandy and Mavis stared at it for a few seconds, before the door opened again, and a very confused Mr. Berton stepped out. The door slammed shut once again.

"You?" Cried Mandy, loosing her cool slightly. "Why has he let you go?"

"Something about being the least important to everyone else out here," replied Mr. Berton, sounding obviously relieved to have been let go.

"Oh for the love of … and now the Doctor's in there too!" Mandy sighed.

"Enough of this," said Mavis. "There's a way to sort this whole thing out."

"Oh yes?" Said Mandy, sounding very unconvinced.

"Grim," Mavis continued, "where's your scythe?"

"Ah. The Doctor made me leave it in the Tardis, and…well, he has the key." Replied Grim.

"Useless, Grim. Useless," Mavis snapped at him.

"Excuse me," said Mandy, "but I think you'll find that I own Grim now, so I suggest you refrain from ordering him around or you'll suffer my wrath."

Mavis glared at the girl, her eyes wide with fire. "Don't talk to me like that, you little cow. I was 'best friends' with Grim for fifteen years. We have a history, you know, so if anyone has the right to talk to him like that, it's me. Ok?"

"Ladies, ladies, please!" Grim interrupted. "You can fight over me later," he said with a nervous grin.

Mandy and Mavis both turned, glared at the Reaper, and growled at him.

"Never mind," he said, backing down.

"He has point, I suppose," Mavis reluctantly agreed. "We need to get in there, stop Aak, and get everyone out."

"There's always the feeding entrance," Mr. Berton piped up, a plan forming in his mind.

"Feeding entrance?" Said Mandy, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, the staff use it to leave the bird's food in there. The key's in the office, I'll go get it. Meantime, you three stay here and think of what we're going to do once you're inside … I mean, once we're inside." Mr Berton didn't wait for a response. He headed off to his office to get the key, a faint grin on his face.

--

The Doctor tried to shake Billy off his legs. As soon as the Time Lord had entered the makeshift prison, Billy had squealed and attached himself to the Doctor.

"Billy, please let go, I have to deal with Aak," he pleaded with the boy. Billy let go.

"Yeah, teach that nasty bird-thing a lesson. He hurt me!" Billy whined.

"Oh, do shut up, child," Aak shouted. "My head really hurts from your stupidity. Doctor, follow me. You two, stay in the corner," he commanded Billy and Tony.

Aak flew to the back of the building and the Doctor followed.

"Give me the salt," commanded the Thraptusian. The Doctor complied, and chucked all the sachets on the floor in front of the bird. Aak dived into the pile, ripping the paper to shreds and guzzling down the salt contents. He paused for moment, experiencing the salt-hit, and sighed contently.

"Good stuff?" The Doctor said, sarcastically.

Aak looked at him, but ignored his question. "So, Doctor, you're a 'Time Lord'?" Aak began to levitate, and hovered a few feet above the ground.

"Yes. Heard of us?"

"Not at all, but I read your mind, you left it open for me and I took that information from you."

"Ah."

"But I sense you're holding back," Aak said, ominously.

"Well, why wouldn't I? I don't leave my mind open for just anyone to access," replied the Doctor.

"Does the name 'Time Lord' suggest what I think it suggests, Doctor?"

The Doctor was silent.

"Give me your mind," Aak commanded. "Let me know all your secrets."

"No," said the Doctor, defiantly.

"Then I'll take it from you, and leave you as an empty shell."

"You don't have the power."

"Oh but I do, Doctor, the salt you provided has helped me. Before I only had a quarter of my strength. Now, I am fully restored!" Aak's eyes began to glow red as he tried to take control of the Time Lord's mind. "Don't fight it Doctor, it will hurt less if you just let me in!"

The Doctor's face contorted with pain. He grabbed his head with both hands, as he struggled to fight Aak's mind control

Billy and Tony watched from the corner. Although they couldn't hear what was being said, they saw the Doctor was in pain.

"Doctor!" Billy called out, and began to run towards him.

"BACK!" Shouted Aak, as he stretched a wing out towards Billy.

Billy felt an invisible force smash into his chest, and he flew backwards through the air at an alarming speed. He crashed into Tony and the two of the fell to the floor in a heap.

"I am regenerated!" Aak called out, triumphantly. He paused for a moment, sensing something from the Doctor's mind. "Hmm, regeneration," Aak mused. "That's a word you're familiar with, isn't it Doctor?"

"Aaaaagh!" The Doctor screamed.

--

Mr. Berton entered his office and retrieved his set of master keys. However, instead of immediately turning and heading back the way he came, he pulled a telephone directory off a shelf. He opened it up, scanned down the page, picked up the telephone receiver and dialled in a number. It rang a few times, then someone answered.

"Hello?" Said Mr. Berton. "Is that the BBC? Put me through to your news room, pronto. I think I have a story here that you're going to want to get on the Six O'clock news."

--

"So, a plan, then?" Said Mandy, getting agitated. "Come on Mavis! You went on adventures with Grim for fifteen years. I'm sure you've been in worse situations than this. What ever should we do?" She said, sarcastically.

"You know, you're a thoroughly unpleasant little girl," replied Mavis.

Mandy began slow hand clapping, while Grim nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

Mavis continued. "I'm surprised your friend Billy hasn't left you, the way you treat people."

"Mean puts the hook in 'em, Mavis. A tactic you obviously missed. Alone now, are you?"

Mavis could feel her anger bubbling up inside of her, but held it in. "Roger died, I had no control over that," she said, through gritted teeth.

"Then you were weak," Mandy stated, matter-of-factly.

"How dare you! You don't understand, you couldn't possibly."

"Under my control, no-one dies unless I say so."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, right Grim?" Mavis said, eying the Reaper.

Grim looked away, avoiding eye contact with Mavis. He didn't respond.

"Grim does as he's told," said Mandy, "and if I say someone doesn't die, they live. Right, Grim?" Mandy's voice cracked ever so slightly as she looked to the Reaper for reassurance.

Grim looked away again, avoiding eye contact with Mandy. He didn't respond.

"Never underestimate Death, Mandy," Mavis sighed. "I did, and I paid the price."

"Roger?" Said Mandy, quietly and with an almost undetectable note of sympathy in her voice.

"Yeah. I thought we were invincible. That nothing could destroy us, not with the power of the Grim Reaper on our side. And how wrong I was."

They both fell silent, as Mavis' mind began to wander. She recalled the day Grim told her of Roger's death. The despair, the anger, the hatred, and loneliness that enveloped her.

Mandy's thoughts involuntarily turned to Billy, trapped inside the building with Aak. Was it really possible that he could be taken, even with Grim on their side? No, no it just couldn't happen. She wouldn't let it. Mandy controlled Grim, and therefore she controlled life and death. End of story. Or was it?

Their trains of thought were interrupted by Mr. Berton walking up to them.

"I've got the keys," he said, holding them up and jiggling them a bit.

"Well," said Mavis, "in the absence of any sane plans, what say we just use the old sneak-up-on-them-from-behind tactic?"

"Now wait just a second," protested Mr. Berton, "shouldn't we think about this? Can't we wait for a bit? Say, half an hour or so?"

"There isn't time," said Mandy, taking control. "Come on!" She said as she lead the way round the back of the Tropical House. "You," she said, pointing to Mr. Berton. "Key. Now!"

Mr. Berton reluctantly obeyed, and quietly unlocked the door.

"Ok," Mandy began, "we rush in and hope for the best. I'm tired of standing around, waiting for nothing to happen. Grim, you and the fat one round up Billy, the Doctor and that other guy and get them out of there while I tackle Aak. He won't know what's hit him."

"And what about me?" Said Mavis.

"You stay out here, don't want you overdoing it and wearing yourself out now, do we?" Mandy said patronisingly, her hostility towards Mavis returning.

Mavis glared at the child. "I may be old, but I'm certainly not past it."

"Maybe it is best you stay here," said Grim, smiling nervously. " We don't want to overcrowd the place."

"Fine," Mavis reluctantly sighed.

Mandy nodded at Mr. Berton, who opened the door. She rushed in, following by Grim and Mr. Berton. She could see Aak levitating in front of the Doctor, who was on his knees clutching his head in pain. Beyond that, she saw Billy and Tony sitting in a corner. She began to approach Aak from behind, and Billy spotted her.

"Mandy!" He shouted, his eyes lighting up and a huge grin forming on his face.

"What the … ?" Exclaimed Aak, turning around. He was just in time to see Mandy lunge at him. She knocked him out of the sky and tackled him to the ground. Mandy pinned the bird to the floor and he began to squawk as he struggled to free himself from her grip. Aak lost his mental hold on the Doctor's mind, who struggled to his feet.

Mr. Berton hurried round the bird and the girl, locked in combat as they were, and gestured for Billy and Tony to follow him. The two hostages scrambled to their feet and began to make their way towards the back exit, as Grim helped an extremely dazed Doctor out of the building.

Mandy grabbed at Aak's face, digging her nails in and drawing blood from the creature. The Thraptusian howled in pain, and then flapped his wings rapidly. A wing made contact with Mandy's face, sending her into a daze. He struggled free from her grip, crawling backwards along the floor, away from her. Before she had a chance to recover, Aak kicked upwards, and his feet connected with her chest, sending her flying backwards. She landed on her back with a dull thud. Aak shot to his feet, and jumped on the girl, pinning her to the floor. Mandy tried to free herself, but the shock of landing on her back coupled with Aak's rapidly returning strength made it impossible for her to move.

Billy, Tony and Mr. Berton had stopped moving towards the exit, and were watching in horror at the events unfolding.

"MANDY!" shouted Billy, running to help the girl.

"No you don't!" Cried Aak, as he sent out psychic wave into the boy, knocking him out cold. Tony and Mr. Berton stepped back, too terrified to do anything else.

"BILLY!" Cried Mandy, craning her head back from her lying down position, just enough to see the boy's motionless body.

"He'll live, unfortunately," said Aak, as Mandy slowly raised her head to look at him. "You, on the other hand, are a real threat to me, so I will take great pleasure in killing you the old fashioned way."

"Go to hell," spat Mandy.

"Not before you," said Aak. He moved he head closer to Mandy, ready to plunge his sharp beak into her chest.

Mandy closed her eyes as tight as she could, bracing herself for the impact.

"GAH!" Screamed Aak, suddenly. He began to shake violently, as if he was having a seizure.

"What the … ?" Began Mandy, before a poorly rendered version of the funeral march began to sound out from her pocket. She instantly recognised it as her ringtone!

"Now's our chance," shouted Tony to Mr. Berton. You help Billy, I'll get the girl. With that, Tony rushed towards Aak and Mandy, and pushed the shaking bird off of the girl. Tony picked up Mandy, who was too weak from her battle with Aak to struggle, and ran out of the building. Mr. Berton followed closely behind, carrying Billy. However, just before he reached the door it slammed shut. He turned round slowly, to see a gasping Aak sitting up on the floor, apparently recovered from his seizure.

"No. You're not getting away," panted the bird. "Put the boy down, and come here."

Mr. Berton gulped and placed Billy on the floor carefully. He moved cautiously towards Aak.

"That was a very stupid thing you just did," said Aak.

"What are you going to do?" Said Mr. Berton, trembling.

"Something I should have done when I first met you," snarled Aak, as he reached out with his mind. Mr. Berton screamed in pain, grabbed his head with both hands. and fell to his knees.

"Please!" He gasped.

"Interesting," said Aak, ignoring the man's pleas. "Your mind is very easy to read. You have called the media. A camera crew is on its' way. Perfect. Now the humans can watch the beginning of the end of their world from the comfort of their homes. But you won't be around to see that, Mr. Berton."

At that moment, Billy began to wake up.

"I … I … I only wanted to make you famous!" Wheezed Mr. Berton. "We could be business partners…"

"Ah, money, money, money. It'll be so useless after what I'm going to do to your world. Now, die," whispered Aak.

Mr. Berton cried out once more, feeling the burn of a million suns rip through his brain.

Billy screamed as Mr. Berton fell to the floor. He lay there, motionless.

--

"NO!" Mandy shouted, and punched the now sealed door. After she had regained her senses, she had quickly realised that Billy wasn't with them.

Before anyone could say anything, Aak appeared through the hole in the roof and looked down at the group.

"I don't know what you just did to me, Mandy," he said, still a little out of breath from his seizure, "but I need to rest. Don't bother trying to get in, I still have enough strength to keep the door shut and keep your little friend Billy trapped in here."

"What about Mr. Berton?" Said Tony.

"Dead, as Billy will be soon if you don't do as I say."

"What do you want?" Said the Doctor.

"It seems the fat man called a television crew, telling them of me, the wondrous mysterious talking bird. I need about an hour to recharge myself after that little trick of yours. Keep them from leaving. I want to show the world what I can do." Aak looked down at the Doctor. "And I will have your regenerations, Doctor. Now be gone, all of you! Come back in an hour with the camera crew, or Billy dies." With that, he flew back through the hole.

--

The group had made a hasty retreat and were now sat in the Birdland café. Grim, The Doctor, Mandy and Tony all sat down at a table, while Mavis walked behind the counter.

"Tea?" She asked the group.

"What?" Said Tony. "How can you think of tea at a time like this?"

"Yes I know," replied Mavis. "Terribly British of me, isn't it?"

"I'll have a cup," the Doctor piped up.

"Coming up!" Mavis smiled.

"How can you all be so nonchalant?" Tony said. "Mr. Berton's been killed!"

"Yes," said the Doctor, nonchalantly. Mavis walked over, handed the Doctor his cup of tea, and pulled up a chair. "And a lot more people will die if we don't do something."

"Plus, we're all pretty used to this sort of thing," Grim added.

"I still don't understand why Aak had that seizure," said Mandy, thoughtfully. "If we can figure out what caused it we might be able to use it against him."

"Mmm," agreed the Doctor, sipping his tea.

"Doctor, what did Aak mean when he said he was going to have all your regenerations?" Asked Grim.

"In a sense, regeneration is a way of cheating death," the Doctor explained. "When the body is near death, a Time Lord can change every cell in their body, literally regenerate themselves into a new body."

"What, so you can change your body if you're dying?" Said Mavis, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"Well, yes," replied the Doctor, as if it should have been common knowledge for all of them. "Same Time Lord, different face!"

"So you're immortal?" Said Mandy, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh no, not at all. A Time Lord can only regenerate twelve times, for a total of thirteen lives. This is my fourth body. Plus there's never any guarantee a regeneration will hold. I've been lucky, so far."

"And Aak wants to steal your …. remaining regenerations?" Said Tony, twigging that the Doctor probably wasn't human. "Can he do that?"

"Regeneration is born out of energy," replied the Doctor. "Aak has psychic abilities, and given the chance he could steal the energy from me and prolong his lifespan indefinitely."

"Then what?"

"Short term, he plans to wipe out most of the life on this planet until birds are the dominant species. After that, who knows?" The Doctor began to trail off, before snapping back to reality. "Come on everyone, think! What happened just before Aak had that fit?"

Suddenly, the funeral march began to play from Mandy's pocket again. Almost automatically, Mandy reached into her pocket and answered her phone.

"Hello? Not now, Mother!" Said Mandy, and ended the call. She looked up to see everyone staring at her. "What?"

"Mandy, give me your mobile!" Cried the Doctor.

"My what?"

"Your cell phone, Mandy!"

Mandy handed the phone to the Doctor.

"So my phone made Aak have a seizure?"

"Yes!" Replied the Doctor. "Psychic ability is just about being able to tune into the right frequency or wavelength. Aak's psychic wavelength must be the same frequency as your mobile phone!"

"Cell phone."

"And when I upgraded it to work across time, it must have amplified the signal enough to interfere with Aak's mind! So, in a sense, your mother saved your life from almost twenty years into the future. The phone has to be right next to him, of course. Won't work from a distance."

"Fantastic," said Grim, sarcastically. "We're going to defeat him with a prank call."

"Well, we just need more phones," said the Doctor, enthusiastically. "I can upgrade them all, and with the combined signal it should knock him out."

"Uh, Doctor, it's 1989," interrupted Mandy. "Anyone who owns a cell phone also owns a wheelbarrow to carry it around in. I doubt we can find enough to be useful."

"Good point. Well, in that case we need to find a way of boosting the signal of this one even more."

Tony's eyes lit up. "The camera crew that's on the way! Surely they have an outside broadcast unit of some sort? Could we hook it up to that? Maybe?"

"Brilliant!" Shouted the Doctor. "Worth a try. Let's go!"

--

"It won't be long now, Billy," Aak said, staring at the boy. "I'm nearly recovered. The beginning of the end will soon …. uh …. begin!"

Billy was silent.

"Oh come on, Billy. Don't you have something idiotic to say? Might help pass the time?" Aak mocked.

"Why can't you just leave us alone?" The boy blurted out.

"Now why would I do that? I arrived on your planet by accident, but what a happy accident it was. Soon this will be my paradise!"

"I had a pair of dice, but I think Irwin still has them."

"There we go." Aak paused for a moment. Then he leaned forward so his beak was touching Billy's face. "Are you scared, Billy?" He asked the trembling boy.

Billy thought for a moment. In situations like this, Billy was unable to hide behind his idiocy. The fear brought about moments of clarity in his otherwise cluttered mind. Yes, he was afraid. But his friends were still out there. They'd save him. He knew they would.

"No," he said, finally. "Because Mandy's still out there. And when she comes to rescue me, she's going to kick your…"

"As much as I'd love to continue this," Aak interrupted, "I sense something approaching."

"Is it gas? I bet it's gas, I always know when that's coming," said Billy, the clarity quickly dispersing.

"No, Billy, it isn't. MINIONS!" He shouted, as every bird in the building stopped dead in its' tracks and fell silent. "Fly, my minions!" Aak commanded. "Fly away!"

All the birds flew out, through the hole in the roof.

--

Meanwhile, a van with BBC written across it in huge letters, pulled up outside Birdland. Dozens of birds began to land on nearby trees and fences, watching it ….. Waiting for the order…..

The order to attack.

--

* * *

**Doctor Who/the Doctor and the Tardis belong to the BBC.**

**Grim, Billy and Mandy belong to Maxwell Atoms and Cartoon Network.**

**All other characters are mine.**

**The real Birdland is property of the owners of Birdland. Please look up the website - the home of Seth the Penguin, from the movie "Batman Returns" - I didn't know they lived that long but apparently they do! Seth's almost as old as me!**


	4. All the Time in the World

**Oh dear, I've done it again. Final chapter, twice the length of the other chapters. Ah, well, never mind. Still rounds this one off nicely, I think. **

**Several things to look out for:**

**Two hugely gratuitous Knightmare quotes, simply because I've been watching that a lot recently.  
****A quote from the recent end-of-season two-parter for series 3 of Doctor Who.  
****A reference to one of my favourite Billy & Mandy fanfics, as I suddenly realised today I've been subconsciously ripping it off! Sorry KKBS!!! It was never intentional!  
****And an adult joke thrown in to the mix for another of my favourite B&M authors, Andie.**

**So, sit you down, and settle in (ok, make that 3 Knightmare quotes) and enjoy the finale to: Terror At Birdland!**

**Disclaimers, as usual, at the bottom.**

_

* * *

__Somewhere, in late 1920s England, a street existed. There was nothing particularly special about this street, it just was. It had houses, and trees, and birds that lived in the trees, but not much else, really. But it was calm. Yes, very, very calm. As were most streets in this little English village that was practically in the middle of nowhere. _

_The calm was, however, interrupted suddenly when the ground began to shake, with a crash. A pause, and then another crash, this time a little heavier. Three figures appeared over the horizon, running from something. Two children - a boy and a girl of no older than twelve - and a skeleton dressed in black, clutching a scythe. _

"_GRIM!" Screamed the girl as the trio ran for their lives. "What were you thinking?"_

"_I'm sorry, Mavis!" Replied the skeleton. "Roger asked me to do it, and my curiosity got the better of me."_

"_Roger!" Mavis cried, turning and looking at the boy._

"_Don't look at me, Mavis," Roger protested, "Grim's the one that bought that thing to life. I just begged and begged and begged and begged and begged and begged and begged and begged until he did it to shut me up. You would have done the same!" _

_There was another almighty crash from behind them._

"_But seriously? A teabag?" Inquired Mavis._

"_I was bored," replied Roger, shrugging._

"_Ugh! Well, never mind that for now, just keep running!" said Mavis, daring to glance behind her. She wished she hadn't, as all she could see on the horizon was the giant teabag Grim had bought to life, stumbling through their village at an alarming rate, crushing buildings as it went. It was hell-bent on catching up to the trio._

"_To be fair to me," Roger continued, sounding out of breath but determined to defend himself, "I never asked Grim to make it that big!"_

_Mavis raised an eyebrow at the boy, and then turned back to look at the Reaper._

"_What?" Grim protested. "Me scythe's on the blink!"_

"_Ugh!" Shouted Mavis out of frustration._

"_Oof!" Cried Roger._

_Mavis turned round to see that the boy had fallen over his own feet. Without a second thought, she jumped, turned in mid air, and landed, running back towards the fallen boy. "Grim!" She shouted. The Reaper dutifully turned round and headed back towards the children._

"_For goodness sake Roger," Mavis sighed loudly as she approached him. "Watch your feet, will you? You bloody idiot!"_

_As Mavis bent down to help the lad, an ominous shadow cast over the pair of them. They looked up slowly, just as Grim rejoined them. All three stared in silence for a few seconds at the giant teabag that was now right on top of them._

_The teabag, which now had an evil looking face, roared and almightily roar and lent into towards the trio. It coughed slightly._

"_Sorry about that," it said in a highly posh English accent, its' face suddenly sporting a very friendly look. "Cup of tea?"_

_Mavis, who was still staring at the monster with eyes wide in fright, grabbed Grim's scythe. She swiped the scythe out in front of her, and tore a hole in the teabag's thin, cotton exterior. Large chunks of tea powder began to pour out of the creature's wound. Mavis, Grim and Roger stepped back quickly and watched as the teabag deflated and it's contents emptied over the ground. The bag, now empty shell, blew away, leaving just a huge mound of tea granules all over the floor._

_Mavis looked at her two friends. Grim stood, mouth wide open, while Roger stared at the tea pile, a huge grin forming on his face._

"_Yay! Tea sand!" He cried, diving head first into the pile._

"_Fantastic," Mavis said sarcastically. "He'll be dripping tea granules all over the place for weeks now." The girl sighed. As annoying at that would be, she wouldn't have it any other way._

_Mavis hoped that this would never end …_

"Mavis!"

The old lady shook herself out of her daydream.

"Mavis!" Mandy shouted again. "Come on, stop daydreaming, we have work to do!" With that, the girl ran out of the café. Mavis, still warm from the memory, followed.

--

_**The Grim Adventures of Doctor Who  
**__**Terror At Birdland - **By Father Jack  
_**Part 4 - **"All the Time in the World"

--

"If there's one constant in this world, it's nutters!"

"Nutters?"

"Yeah, mad people!"

Two men sat in the side of the massive BBC van that was currently parked outside Birdland.

"Mad people, Steve?"

"Yeah, Dave," replied Steve. "I mean, come on! A talking bird. Who on Earth in their right mind would phone up the BBC and say they had a bird that could hold conversations in fluent English at their theme park."

"I dunno, Steve, someone desperate for publicity?" Dave replied, annoyed.

"Yeah, or someone who had a screw or two loose."

"Fair point, I reckon Steve," said Dave, giving into Steve's logic. "But who's more of a nutter? The bloke that phoned us, or the idiot boss who sent us on the this wild goose chase."

"Must be a slow news day, I reckon," Steve said. "It's probably just a parrot that says 'bollocks'."

As two more BBC vans pulled up, no-one noticed the dozens of birds still watching their every move.

--

The Doctor, Mavis, Grim, Mandy and Tony all stood opposite the exit gate, spying on the BBC vans.

"We need to get over there," said the Doctor, adjusting the sonic screwdriver. "I'm guessing the van that has a large satellite dish poking out of the top has an outside broadcast unit."

"What do we do once we're get there?" Said Tony.

The Doctor handed Mandy the sonic screwdriver.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" Asked Mandy, one eyebrow raised at the Doctor.

"You and Mavis find a way to get to the OB unit van. Point the sonic screwdriver at the console inside the van, press and hold the button for six seconds. It'll synch the OB unit up with the phone. When Aak is close enough, just make a call or something and it'll knock him out."

"They're hardly likely to let Mandy just walk up and start tinkering about with it!" Exclaimed Tony.

"Well, she'll have to improvise," the Doctor said, grinning.

"Just follow my lead, Mandy, you'll do fine," Mavis said to the girl, patronisingly.

"Shut up, or I use this on you," Mandy snapped, brandishing the screwdriver.

"Try it," Mavis goaded Mandy.

"Um, there's a back way out through the car park," Tony interrupted. "I'll let you out that way."

"Good," said the Doctor. "Then you get back here, Tony, and keep the BBC people talking through the gate. Grim and I will try and lure Aak out here, instead of bringing the cameras to him. We've more of a chance of beating him if he's out in the open."

"Will do," replied the lad, obediently.

"Right," said the Doctor, "let's go!"

--

"So, why are you so hostile?" Mavis asked Mandy. The pair had been let out through the back gate and were currently making their way round to the front. "What's the real reason, Mandy?"

"It's who I am. Now just drop it, ok?" Was Mandy's curt response. She walked a little ahead of Mavis, not turning to look at the woman.

"I don't believe that for a second."

"And I don't believe that we're still on this subject. We have a job to do, and the sooner it's done the better."

"Would you be so anxious to get this done if Billy weren't trapped in there?" Mavis' question scored a direct hit on Mandy's nerve. The girl stopped dead in her tracks. Mavis stopped too, still a few paces behind the girl.

"The bird has my property. I want it back," said Mandy, coldly. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"Billy is your property?" Said Mavis. She could hardly believe what Mandy was saying.

"Of course," Mandy replied, still icy cold. "What else would he be?"

"What else indeed?"

Mandy spun around and looked Mavis in the eye. "Look, I don't know what you're trying to achieve here. Maybe you feel guilty about your friend dying, I don't know. But I am not you, and any similarity you see between me and you is in your head, got it? We may have Grim in common but that's where it ends."

"I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I did," Mavis protested.

"Oh I can guarantee that won't happen. After all, Grim didn't stick around with you, did he?"

Mavis fell silent.

"You thought I hadn't spotted that, didn't you? Best friend for life?" Mandy mocked the woman. "And you only managed to hang on to him for fifteen years? Pathetic. What happened?"

"I sent him away," replied Mavis.

"Brilliant," Mandy said sarcastically. "Not only did you let your best friend die, you then sent away your only other friend. No wonder you're alone."

"I couldn't deal with it," Mavis said, her voice trembling as she fought to hold back the tears. "Having Grim around after what happened, I just couldn't do it."

"And you took the easy way out," Mandy snarled.

"Maybe you're right, Mandy."

The girl was taken aback. She hadn't expected Mavis to give in so easily.

Mavis continued. "At least, I thought it was the easy way. But it wasn't easy. Far from it. After everything I saw in my time with Grim, to have to go back to normality. It was the hardest thing, especially with Roger gone. And I don't think you'd be able to do that Mandy. You'd never be able to go back to being an ordinary person."

"I was never ordinary. Besides, Grim and Billy aren't going anywhere."

"Good," snorted Mavis. "You keep telling yourself that, Mandy. Maybe one day you'll start to believe it." She looked the girl in the eye. They stood like that for a few seconds.

"Come on, we have to go," said Mandy, abruptly changing the subject. She turned around and started making her way to the front of Birdland once more.

--

"Any chance you could let us in?" The young female BBC reporter said to Tony through the bars of Birdland's gate. She held a microphone in one hand, and a polystyrene cup of coffee in the other. "It's hard to film things from the outside."

"Well, there's a little bit of a problem."

"Oh my," said the woman sarcastically, "you're not going to tell me the whole thing was - shock-horror - a hoax?!"

"Oh no, not at all! But we don't think it's a good idea to have a camera crew in here, it might upset the other birds, you see. Much better to bring the featured attraction out to you."

"Well, hurry up, we haven't got all day. I was hoping to be home in time to watch Eastenders tonight. We're live in fifteen minutes!"

"Don't worry Love, it won't be long, just stay where you are!"

"Sorry, boy, did you just call me 'Love'?" The reporter said, angrily. "Call me that again, and this hot coffee goes in your face, you got that?"

"Yes miss," said Tony, sheepishly backing down.

--

Mavis and Mandy had reached the front of Birdland, and were watching the TV vans from a distance.

"Follow my lead, Mandy," Mavis said to the girl.

Before Mandy could reply, Mavis had darted off in the direction of the BBC crew. Mandy followed her, and they approached Steve and Dave.

"Hello chaps," Mavis said, "whatcha doing?"

"TV stuff, mostly," replied Dave, uninterested.

"Oh good. I was just wondering, would you mind if we took a look around your van? My granddaughter here is fascinated by all this equipment," said Mavis ruffling Mandy's hair.

"Granddaughter?!" Mandy spluttered as she batted Mavis' hand away. She snarled at the woman.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "She don't look that interested to me," he said.

"Oh you know kids. Little scamp, always acting up, hehe," Mavis laughed nervously.

Steve and Dave stared blankly at the duo.

"Erm, well come on, dear," said Mavis, looking at Mandy. "Tell the nice men how much you want to see the lovely TV equipment."

Mandy continued to glare at Mavis, growling ever so slightly under her breath.

"Don't be like that, dear," Mavis continued, patronisingly. "Tell them how much you want to see the magical outside broadcast unit." Mavis eyed the girl.

Steve and Dave looked confused.

Mandy slowly turned to look at the men. "I really …. really …. want to see the outside broadcast unit," the girl said slowly, trying her best to put on an 'innocent little girl' voice. "Please let me and my…." Mandy paused, swallowing the last of her pride, "….Nanny have a look round. Pleeeeeeeease?" Her left eye began to twitch.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Fine, just don't touch anything. It's in the van, just head round the other side."

Mavis thanked the men and the pair walked round the vehicle.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Said Mavis, grinning at Mandy.

"I hate you," hissed Mandy, her eye still twitching.

--

"Well, where are they?" Aak shouted from atop the Tropical House. He stared down at Grim and the Doctor.

"Slight change of plan, Aak," the Doctor said calmly. The Thraptusian glared at the Time Lord.

"Yeah," continued Grim, "the television people want you to come to them. They said something about not being able to get all the equipment through here. It just makes things easier."

"Hmmm," mused Aak. After a few seconds he added, "very well then. Prepare them for me. I will show the world my magnificence, before beginning the enslavement of the human race!"

"Enslavement? I thought you were going to destroy the human race, not enslave them?" Grim said, puzzled.

"Urm, yes well, you know what I mean," Aak babbled.

"You're making this up as you go along aren't you?" Grim exclaimed.

"Well, not exactly," Aak began to protest.

The Doctor grabbed the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb and sighed.

"Yes, you are! You haven't got a clue what you're doing, you have no plan, you're just hoping it all works out, aren't you?" Grim said accusingly.

Aak stared at the Reaper. "Shut up!" He shouted.

"Look," interrupted the Doctor, "we kept the BBC people here, now release Billy!"

"Hold on a sec," said Grim, looking at the Doctor, "is that really necessary?"

"What?" Said the Doctor, exasperated.

"We don't really need Billy, do we? He can stay in there!" Grim protested.

"Stop it," said the Doctor. "Aak, Billy, out here, now!"

"Very well, Doctor," the bird replied. "Let the boy enjoy his last few moments of freedom. It won't matter in a very few hours."

With that, the doors opened and Billy stepped out, ginning his usual inane grin of idiocy.

"Hiya Grim! Hiya Doctor!" He said, chirpily. "What's going on? I'm hungry, I want food now. Do you have any jelly babies? I like jelly babies! I also like cheese and crackers and other things that taste like chicken. Are you related to Dr. Pepper, Doctor? I bet you are! Why does Dr. Pepper come in a bottle, Grim?"

Grim sighed. "Now do you see why I wanted to leave him behind, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded.

--

The BBC reporter went up to the gate once more.

"You, boy. How much longer?" She said.

"Um, well," Tony began. He glance behind them and saw Aak flying towards him, with the Doctor, Grim and Billy in tow. "Here they come now!"

"At bloody last! Right," she addressed the crew, "places everyone!"

Aak flew to the top of the gate and perched on it. He looked at the reporter and said, in his most charming voice, "are you ready for me yet?"

The reporter stared, open mouthed, at the creature.

--

"Now, remember what the Doctor said: hold that thing in front of the OB thing and press the button," Mavis stated.

"I know, I'm doing it!" Mandy shouted. She held the sonic screwdriver up and pointed it to the OB unit.

"You're not doing it right!"

"Yes I am, now back off!"

"Give it here," Mavis made a grab for the screwdriver. Mandy pulled her hand away quickly, and accidentally dropped the implement. It fell to the floor and rolled out of the van.

--

"I'm standing outside Birdland in the Cotswolds," the reporter said, standing in front of the camera, "where we are witnessing something never before seen. An unusual bird, that is capable of coherent speech."

The camera pointed up to where Aak was perched. The bird spread his wings to their full span and stood still, basking in the attention. After a few moments, he looked into the camera.

"Look upon me now, humans, look upon me and quail! Your time as masters of this planet is over. Now, you will serve me."

The camera crew stared at Aak, aghast.

The Doctor, Grim, Tony and Billy stood helplessly behind the closed gate.

Billy tugged on Grim's cloak. "Where's Mandy?" Whispered the boy.

Grim shrugged.

Aak grinned at the reporter. He then raised his head, looking into the sky and spread his wings once more. "Go," he shouted.

The dozens of birds that had been watching everything suddenly took to flight. They set their sights on the BBC crew and dove out of the air, attacking anyone they saw. More birds began appearing over the horizon, too many to count, all heading for Birdland.

"That's no sodding parrot!" Cried Dave as he and Steve ran for their lives.

"Really?!" Called out Steve, sarcastically.

Both men screamed as forty birds or more enveloped them, pecking them to death. Other members of the crew scattered off in different directions, but one by one were brought down by the rampaging birds, most being pecked to death.

Tony gasped in horror at the sight that was in front of him. He tried desperately to unlock the gate that separated him and his friends from the slaughter. Although the key fit, the gate wouldn't budge. He kicked it hard.

"That won't do any good," said the Doctor. "Aak's doing his usual trick, keeping the gate shut."

"This creature has no consistency!" Said Grim. "Now he's gone back to the 'killing everyone' idea? I wish he'd just make up his mind."

Aak heard him, flew down and faced Grim through the bars of the gate.

"I'm just showing the world my powers. Wouldn't want an uprising now, would we?" He grinned, then shouted to his birds. "Remove one tenth of the population!"

"You monster," snarled the Doctor.

Aak looked at him, then at the others. "Where are the other two?"

The group fell silent.

"Where are they??" The bird shouted once more. He reached out with his mind and took control of Tony. The boy fell to the floor, clutching his head as Aak probed his mind. "So, a plan, eh? Interesting!" The bird turned round and took to flight.

The last of the BBC crew fell to the floor, and the attacking birds began to turn their attention on the small crowd of civilians that had gathered.

--

"What the hell is going on out there?" Mandy said. She and Mavis had been outside the van, looking for the sonic screwdriver when the birds had started attacking. They had jumped in the van and closed the door, but there were no windows in the section they were in.

"I don't know Mandy, but it sounds horrific, we have to do something!" Mavis replied.

Mandy nodded in agreement. "I'm going out there."

Before Mavis could react, Mandy opened the side door of the van and cautiously stepped down. She looked under the van, and saw the sonic screwdriver. Mandy reached down and picked it up, and started to climb back into the van.

Suddenly, she was pulled away from the van. Mandy looked round and saw Aak. He had grabbed her with his feet and was carrying her away.

"Mandy!" Mavis screamed.

"Here!" Called out Mandy, and she threw the sonic screwdriver to Mavis. The woman caught it and pointed it at the OB unit, pressing the button in.

Aak turned around, dropped Mandy to the ground and flew towards Mavis. Mandy landed with a thud.

"Ouch," she said as she slowly stood up.

"Stop that at once!" Aak called out to Mavis. "Get away from that unit. NOW!"

Mavis held her hands up, still clutching the screwdriver. She slowly got out of the van and moved away.

"Sorry," she said, and then looked at Mandy. "Six seconds."

Aak turned round once more, just in time to see Mandy press the call button on her phone.

"Noooooooooooooo!" He screamed.

The call went out, and the electronic pulses began to fill Aak's head. The OB unit in the van began to beep and flash, as the signal was picked up. The satellite transmitter on top of the van began to broadcast the pulses, and these too pieced Aak's mind like a red hot poker. He screamed, fell to the floor, and curled up into a ball.

--

The birds attacking the public suddenly broke away, Aak's mind control over them destroyed. They scrambled and flew away, leaving only the bodies of their victims behind. An eerie silence fell on the area.

"Mandy and Mavis must have done it!" Said Grim, elated.

Tony was now able to open the gate, and he stepped out of Birdland along with Billy, Grim and the Doctor.

"All those people," said Tony, staring in shock at the corpses.

"It could have been far worse," said the Doctor.

"How can you say that so nonchalantly, Doctor? They're all dead. Doesn't that matter to you? You seem so …. so …."

"Alien?" The Doctor finished Tony's sentence. " Come on, we'd better go find the others."

--

Mandy pressed the call-end button on her phone and walked towards the fallen bird. She towered over Aak as he lay there trembling.

"Mandy!" A familiar voice shouted.

Mandy turned round to see an over excited Billy run up to her. He jumped towards her and grabbed her, pulling her into a tight embrace that knocked the air out of her. Mandy's arms stayed firmly at her sides.

"I missed ya!" He yelled in her ear.

"The feeling's not mutual," she said, stone cold.

Billy, with his arms still around the girl, looked behind him at Aak. He faced Mandy again. "Yay! You beat him up, that nasty Thrrrrrrrr ….. Thhhrrrrrrrrr …" Billy blew more raspberries in Mandy's face as he tried once again to say the name of Aak's species.

"Eww," she said, pushing him away from the hug. "If you have to refer to him, please just say 'Aak'. I've had more of your bodily fluids on me today than I ever would have cared to in my whole life!"

"You won't be saying that when you're older," said Grim, walking up to them.

Mandy looked at him, a look of pure disgust on her face. "Ick," she said.

"Err, where's Aak?" Said the Doctor, pointing the spot on the floor where the bird had been a few moments previously.

The group looked up to see Aak staggering in a daze towards Birdland on his feet. Although he was hurt, he still moved pretty quickly. Mandy began to chase him.

"No one follow me!" She screamed at the group.

--

Aak frantically looked for a place to hide so he could recover his strength, continue his conquest of the planet and work out a way of combating that infernal weapon Mandy had. He spotted the Tropical House and took sanctuary inside. Aak tried to lock the door with his mind, but it was no good. He was too weak.

A dark figure stood in the doorway, blocking the light that was coming in and casting a shadow over the bird. "No where to run," said Mandy, coldly.

Aak tried desperately to hold her back with his mind, but he just didn't have the strength. The bird collapsed on the floor, panting. The girl moved towards him, staring at him the whole time. She held in her hand a large rock, which she brandished as she advanced on Aak.

"So now you're going to kill me?" Aak panted. "I don't think so. You don't have it in you."

"Tough talk for someone who can't even stand. It ends. Now." She stood right over him and began to raise the rock far above her head.

"Wait!" Aak shouted. He looked her in the eye. "Human? Or not so human, Mandy? You're not like the others on this planet. I sense an evil in you."

"Yes, yes, I'm evil, we all know that."

"No, Mandy, it's not as simple as that. You're harbouring something, something you don't know about. Something beyond this universe. It stalks you Mandy, and it's coming for you. And it's going to get you," the bird spat.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The girl said, puzzled.

"The sparrow, Mandy. The sparrow. It's coming for you…" The bird trailed off as if going into a trance.

The girl looked at the bird for a second, unsure as to whether she should finish him or not.

The bird quivered.

Mandy brought the rock down on his head.

Hard.

The bird no longer quivered.

--

"What happened to Aak?" The Doctor asked Mandy as she walked back up to the group.

"Must have fried his brain pretty bad. He was dead by the time I got to him," she lied.

"Indeed," said the Doctor, not quite believing the girl. "Right, we'd better get out of here. UNIT will be here soon."

"What's UNIT?" Grim asked. The group started heading back towards the Tardis.

"They deal with this sort of thing, aliens, paranormal etc. No doubt they saw the broadcast before the cameras went dead. They'll come in, clean it all up, make sure it's covered up, that sort of thing. You two," he said, addressing Tony and Mavis, "as far as anyone's concerned you were nowhere near Birdland when this was happening. And you never saw me, ok? The less questions asked, the better."

"Got it," said Tony, and Mavis nodded in agreement.

The group reached the Tardis and the Doctor unlocked the door. He ushered Billy inside.

"Mandy?" He said, indicating she should step inside.

"Um, can I just have a moment with her?" Said Mavis.

"Two minutes, then we have to go!" The Doctor stood by the Tardis with Grim and Tony as Mavis took Mandy off to one side.

"How do you all fit in there?" Tony asked, puzzled.

"Oh, don't start," said the Doctor.

"Well, go on then, tell me what a horrible person I am to Billy," Mandy said to Mavis once they were out of ear shot with the others.

"I just want to tell you what happened to Roger," Mavis said, quietly.

"Well go on then, and make it quick. What happened?"

"Think about it. The year was 1939, a young man in his 20s."

"World War Two," Mandy said, softly.

Mavis nodded. "He went off to fight. Did really well, apparently. He wrote to me all the time. Well, I say he wrote to me. They were mostly crudely drawn pictures of squirrels in army gear, but I knew what he meant. Then, one day, after two years, Grim came to me, and told me Roger had been killed in battle. I was so devastated and angry, I just sent Grim away there and then. Never saw him again, not until today. All these years I've blamed him." Mavis choked back tears.

"What are you trying to say to me?"

"Roger never knew how I felt, deep down. Never got the chance to tell him. You think you have all the time in the world, but suddenly it's gone. All I'm saying is show your friend a little tenderness from time to time, let him know you care for him."

"I don't care," protested Mandy.

"Fine. Just try telling me that if you ever lose Billy. There's a lot of danger out there, and it only gets worse. Somehow I doubt that Aak will be the only giant, bird-like creature you'll ever run into," Mavis said ominously.

Mandy looked puzzled for a second. She looked at Mavis. "Look, I'm sorry for your loss," she said with genuine sympathy.

"Thanks. There was one consolation, though. When Grim told me the news, he also said that Roger didn't die alone. Grim saw someone sitting with him on the battlefield, but they ran off before he got close enough to see who it was. I always wondered why."

Mandy's eyes widened. "Wait there!" She said to Mavis. Mandy ran towards the Doctor. "Before you take us back to Endsville, Doctor, can you do something for me?"

--

A lone man lay dying in a misty field, a single gunshot would to his chest. He gasped for air as a wave of pain enveloped him. A face appeared, looking down at him. It was a familiar face, one that filled him with warmth.

"Mavis!" Exclaimed the man.

"Hello Roger," said Mavis. She knelt down beside him and held his head in her arms.

"You look different," Roger said, smiling. "Is it your hair?"

Mavis smiled. "Yeah Roger, that's it exactly."

"What are you doing here?" Roger said, excitedly. "Did Grim bring you? Where is Grim, is he coming?"

Mavis went cold. "Yes, Roger, Grim'll be along in a few moments." She tried to fake a smile, but started crying.

"Awww, what's wrong Mavis? Have you missed me? I've missed you," Roger smiled, then winced in pain.

"Yeah, yeah I've missed you," Mavis said through the tears.

"I'm scared Mavis. It hurts."

"I know. Roger? I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah I know, Mavis. I love you too."

The two smiled at each other, and Mavis leant in and gave Roger a quick kiss. She looked up and noticed a dark figure appearing in the mist.

"I have to go now, Roger. Grim will be here in a second."

"Goodbye, Mavis," Roger said, and he began to slip out of consciousness.

"Goodbye, my love," Mavis said as she stood up. She ran back towards the Tardis that was concealed by the mist.

--

Billy, Mandy, Grim, the Doctor and Tony stood in silence in the Tardis control room, looking intently at the view screen. As Mavis approached, the Doctor pressed a button the control panel which opened the door and let her in. She darted inside and the door closed behind her.

"You ok?" Asked Grim.

"Yeah. Yeah I am now," she said, smiling weakly at the Reaper and wiping away a tear. "Thanks, Doctor."

"You're welcome," he said. "If the Time Lords ever find out what I did they'll be furious." He grinned.

Billy walked up to Mandy, who was still watching the screen. "Mandy?" He said, quietly.

"Yeah, Billy?"

"Will I ever have to fight in a war?"

Mandy looked at the boy. "I dunno, Billy. But if you're ever drafted into the army for whatever reason, I promise: I'll break both of your legs." She then turned round, and went through a door that led deeper into the Tardis.

"Not quite the tenderness I had in mind, but I guess the sentiment's there," said Mavis.

"That's the closest you'll ever get to a tender moment from Mandy!" Grim replied.

"I feel warm, yet I fear for my life," said Billy.

"That's love for you," the Doctor interjected. "Come, we've got to get you two back to the Cotswolds, then the rest of you back to Endsville." The Doctor looked at Tony. "What did you come along for?"

"I dunno," he said. "Everyone was piling in here, I just got caught up in the moment!"

The Doctor sighed and started programming the controls.

--

Two UNIT personnel entered the Tropical House in Birdland and spotted the motionless bird.

"I think that's the one we saw on the TV. It looks dead," said one of them.

"I don't think it's dead," said the other one.

"Well it bloody well looks like it to me," said the first one. "Just look at it's head. It's got an eye missing. Ooooh, nasty!" He winced.

"It's breathing, you idiot, look!" Both men saw the bird take a huge breath in. It started to cough ever so slightly.

"Bloody hell! Quick, get the Brigadier! We need to get that thing quarantined, it's dangerous!"

--

The Tardis materialised in the same spot it had before, and the group stepped out.

"So now what?" Said Tony.

"Well, Birdland needs a new manager!" Said the Doctor, looking at Tony. "I'll think you'll do a fine job." The Doctor paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. He then suddenly looked up and exclaimed: "K-9!"

"What?" Said Mavis. "What the bloody hell is a K-9?"

Billy's eyes lit up. He started running round in small circles, whilst shouting: "bloody hell bloody hell bloody hell bloody hell bloody hell bloody hell!!"

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Oh great, you've taught him a new swear. Billy! Zip it!"

"K-9 is my dog," said the Doctor, ignoring the children. "I left him in Endsville, I just remembered. Time we went back, I think! Come on, everyone."

"Bye, Mandy! And thank you for what you did," Mavis said.

"See ya, Mavis," the girl replied, heading towards the Tardis door. She stopped, turned to face the woman, and waved. Mandy then disappeared into the Tardis.

"See ya!" Called out Billy, then went back to shouting his newly learning phrase. He entered the Tardis following Mandy.

"You did very well, Mavis," the Doctor said, smiling at the woman and shaking her hand. "Good bye, and you too Tony!" He vanished into the Tardis.

"Well, Mavis," said Grim. "I guess this is goodbye again."

"Yes, for now, anyway," said Mavis.

"Forgive me?" Said Grim, giving Mavis puppy dog eyes.

"The Grim Reaper," said Mavis, smiling. "Looking at a mere mortal with teary eyes. How pathetic," she laughed. "Of course I forgive you Grim. We've all got to go sometime."

"Thank you," Grim said, as the two of them hugged goodbye.

"Grim!" Called the Doctor from within the Tardis.

"Gotta go!" Said the Reaper, and he entered the blue box. The door shut behind him.

"Bye, Grim," Said Mavis, as the Tardis dematerialised.

"What an extraordinary first day," Tony said once the Tardis had completely disappeared. "Do you think we'll ever see them again?"

Mavis turned round and looked at the boy. "Well, we'll both see Grim again."

"Do you think so?" Asked Tony, puzzled.

"Oh yes, Tony. It's inevitable." Mavis laughed, and wondered off, leaving Tony standing there.

Mavis headed back towards the ducks. After all, it must nearly be their lunch time by now.

**

* * *

****Doctor Who/the Doctor, the Tardis and UNIT belong to the BBC.**  
**Grim, Billy and Mandy belong to Maxwell Atoms and Cartoon Network.  
****All other characters are mine.  
****The real Birdland is property of the owners of Birdland. Please look up the website - I've run out of quirky things to say about it.**


End file.
